The present invention generally relates to coupons and coupon redemption cards. More particularly, the present invention relates to a peel-off coupon redemption card having one or more coupons which are beneficially removable with effectively no adhesive remaining on the coupon, as well as redemption means and promotion indicia printed on opposite faces of the coupon.
Cents off coupons and other types of discount coupons are a familiar marketing device, routinely used to promote the sale of various products and services by offering discounts or other types of effective price reduction upon presentation of the coupon to the seller. For example, local newspapers print various grocery item coupons, which will be honored by major supermarket chains. Coupons are also published in magazines, and are frequently mailed to households in mass mailings. Typically, the coupons are torn out or cut out with scissors. Whatever the form of distribution, prior art coupon systems are all somewhat disorganized in bulk, and hard for the consumer to keep track of.
Typically, the cashier accepts the coupons as they are presented to her at the check-out line of the retail establishment. The accepted coupons are typically placed in a special drawer, and later sorted and forwarded to the manufacturer for reimbursement. Although cumbersome, retail establishments are accustomed to this procedure.
As disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,308,120 and 5,501,491, peel-off coupon redemption cards and tracking systems have been developed wherein small coupons are removably attached to a redemption card. Oftentimes, such redemption cards are sold as fund raising vehicles. Thus, in order to justify the cost of the redemption card, as many detachable coupons as is possible are typically formed on the back of the redemption card so that the total redemption value far exceeds the cost of the card. The holder of the card peels off a coupon at the retail establishment in order to receive the discount. When the coupon is removed, an adhesive layer remains on the back of the coupon so that it can be adhered onto a tracking sheet to assist the retail establishment in determining the total number of coupons received, etc.
However, some retail establishments find it inconvenient to train their cashiers in handling these coupons and the accompanying tracking sheet. Some cashiers, instead of adhering the coupons onto the tracking sheet, place them in the drawer for the regular coupons. Due to the adhesive layer on the removed coupon, the coupon adheres to other coupons or papers within the drawer, creating a mess. Due to the relatively small size of the removable coupons, the coupons are unable to physically support both the necessary promotion indicia as well as an electronic redemption means, such as a bar code or the like. Thus, the cashier must read the fairly small print on the removed coupon and key in the discount, or scan a bar code or the like on the redemption card itself. Having a magnetic strip or bar code on the redemption card separate from the coupons require that the coupons substantially have the same discount for the same retail establishment. Also, it is difficult to control the number of times the discount is given as the redemption card holder could potentially scan the bar code more times than the number of removable coupons provided on the redemption card itself.
Accordingly, there is a continuing need for a peel-off coupon redemption card in which the removed coupons do not have adhesive thereon, and which can be treated in a more traditional fashion. There is also a continuing need for such a redemption card wherein the removed coupon support both the promotion indicia as well as electronic scanning means for providing the discount. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides other related advantages.